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here is my back yard 24 hours prior to the start of my meeting. snow is forcasted to end sunday eve. it’s friday morning.

the meeting has been cancelled.

i now have 45 t-shirts, 150 + books, aproximately 400 atkins bars, 60 boxes of no carb cookies, 45 bars of bacon soap, 45 gift bags and folders, and a bag filled with miscellaneous items such as water pitchers and room decorations, taking up every available inch of space in my kitchen for an undetermined length of time. and i’m concerned about being able to reschedule the meeting prior to the weather getting too warm to be able to wear my new suit.

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“Worry is as useless as a handle on a snowball”

Mitzi Chandler

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hard to believe february is almost over. i’ve pretty much spent the entire month preparing for the first big meeting for nutrition & metabolism society members. during the month of january i feared no one would show up. by yesterday i was actually 3 people over booked. people are flying in from all over the country and even one person from england to attend my meeting. i was not expecting this at all but it made me very happy. i told richard we may have to stand during the entire meeting and asked him not to eat too much – if he has to eat at all. i ordered lunch for 40 – not 43.

here is the weather forcast:

Snow will develop this morning and pick up intensity through this
afternoon. There will be a period this afternoon into early this
evening when the snow mixes with or changes to rain. The precipitation
is expected to change back to all snow tonight.

For now expect accumulations to range from 7 to 12 inches… with
locally higher amounts possible. In addition… if no mixing of
rain occurs… amounts will end up towards the higher end of the
range… if not a bit more.

Precautionary/preparedness actions…A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow…
sleet… and ice are expected or occurring. Strong winds are also possible.This will make travel very hazardous or impossible.Stay tuned to NOAA all hazards weather radio or visit our web
site at weather.Gov/NYC for further details and updates.

is this really happening?

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“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.”

Leo F. Buscaglia

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“Just as the wave cannot exist for itself, but is ever a part of the heaving surface of the ocean, so must I never live my life for itself, but always in the experience which is going on around me. It is an uncomfortable doctrine which the true ethics whisper into my ear. You are happy, they say; therefore you are called upon to give much.”

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i stole this story from my new favorite blog: seeing good, the bright side of life.

Yesterday a friend of mine sent me a story on msnbc that warmed my heart. Felicia Lettieri, a 72-year old woman from Italy, visited NYC with her family this holiday season. On Christmas Eve, she left her purse in a taxi. That accessory held $21,000 to finance her trip with 6 relatives. Police told her not to hold out hope of getting that money back. Call it cynicism or realism in a troubled economy, but for one reason or another they assumed whoever found that purse would take the money and run. They were wrong. The cabbie, Mukul Asaduzzaman, drove about 50 miles to a Long Island address he’d found in the purse. No one was home, so he left his phone number and a note that read: “Don’t worry Felicia…I’ll keep it safe.” Mukul told the N.Y. Post, “When I was 5 years old, my mother told me, ‘Be honest, work hard and you will raise your station.” It seems to me his “station” is a lot higher than he realizes. Just a simple reminder people are good. All you need to do to see it is stay open: open heart, open mind, open eyes.

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just yesterday i asked for pennies. usually i just ask for one, but yesterday i was feeling doubtful & so i specifically asked for lots of shiny ones – all together. right on the corner of 73rd & 1st in a puddle in the street – – 7 shiny pennies.

and 7 is my lucky number. thanks, pop!

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“I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifest”

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Imagine talking to your mobile phone — really. Computer scientist Kurt Fuqua predicts that next-generation speech-based interfaces are coming sooner than you think. This new wave of technology will allow users to have relatively complex conversations with …their phones, helping them use several applications simultaneously. Meanwhile, Vint Cerf answers skeptics who argue that these new mobile devices will make people less intelligent. “It reminds me of the guy that complained about the invention of writing,” he explains, “because he said people would no longer remember anything cause they could just write it down.”Fora.tv

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“Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.”

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Hachiko was brought to Tokyo in 1924 by his owner, a college professor named Hidesamuro Ueno. Each day, when Ueno left for work, Hachiko would stand by the door to watch him go. When the professor came home at 4 o’clock, Hachiko would go to the Shibuya Station to meet him.

Though this simple act alone shows a tremendous amount of loyalty, that’s not the end of it: The following year, Ueno died of a stroke while at the university. Hachiko didn’t realize that he was gone, and so the dog returned to the train station every single day to await his master. He became such a familiar presence there, in fact, that the station master set out food for the dog and gave him a bed in the station. Even so, Hachiko never shifted loyalties –every day at 4 o’clock, he hopefully waited by the tracks as the train pulled in, searching for his best friend’s face among the people getting off.

Hachiko died in 1935, after 10 long years of waiting for his master. But the dog would not be forgotten –a year before his death, Shibuya Station installed a bronze statue of the aging dog, to honor its mascot. Though the statue was melted down during World War II, a new version was created in 1948 by the son of the original artist. Go to the station now, and you’ll be able to see the bronze statue of Hachiko – still waiting, as ever, for his master to come home.

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On February 14 around the year 278 A.D., Valentine, a holy priest in Rome in the days of Emperor Claudius II, was executed.

Under the rule of Claudius the Cruel, Rome was involved in many unpopular and bloody campaigns. The emperor had to maintain a strong army, but was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. Claudius believed that Roman men were unwilling to join the army because of their strong attachment to their wives and families.

To get rid of the problem, Claudius banned all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.

When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Valentine was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. The sentence was carried out on February 14, on or about the year 270.

Legend also has it that while in jail, St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine.”

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i like that valentines day is on a sunday this year. the worst is when it falls on a thursday, friday or saturday, but i don’t know too many people who mind being home alone on a sunday night. so just to see what i was missing out on, i googled “best valentines day gifts”. with all the creative talent on this planet, i was shocked to see the entire first page of google listings was completely lame. chocolates, dinner, home made cards, candles, flowers, blah blah blah. . . .

so i immediately went to the robb report, as their gift suggestions never disappoint. of the 21 ultimate gift suggestions, i found one i think would be entirely appropriate for valentines day:

A two-week trip for the buyer and five friends to all nine of chef Daniel Boulud’s restaurants in New York, Las Vegas, Palm Beach, Vancouver, and Beijing.
Behind-the-scenes tours of Boulud’s kitchens.
An extravagant eight-course dinner paired with some of the world’s finest wines.
A personal concierge to arrange visits to museums, art galleries, and other points of interest in each city.
Private-jet travel to, and luxury accommodations in, the destinations.

$1.1 million

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“You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.” ~Author Unknown

“When you smiled you had my undivided attention. When you laughed you had my urge to laugh with you. When you cried you had my urge to hold you. When you said you loved me, you had my heart forever.” ~Author Unknown

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i can’t help it. i just hate the cold – which makes me hate winter. no amount of meditation, positive thinking or even dane cook can help. i just came home from my night walk with ivan and couldn’t even make it all the way around the block. the temp with the wind chill must be somewhere around -30 ok, at least 25 degrees and the roads and sidewalks are covered in ice. it makes me miserable. we passed a guy standing right on my block on 73rd street smoking a cigarette in shorts and a t-shirt. that made me even colder. as i got closer i saw that he had bare feet. bare feet – right on the ice. then i got depressed thinking everybody is crazy. i can’t decide whether to have a second cup of st. johns wort blues buster tea or a bag of cadbury mini eggs.

Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher have been married for 86 years, and are the world’s longest-married living couple. Now, they’re sharing the secrets of their success on Twitter for Valentine’s Day.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on February 11 2010

If you and your partner have been together for a while, you may be concerned about how to keep that spark of romance alive. And while there’s no shortage of books, magazines, and TV shows claiming to have the answers, espousing everything from tango classes to regular therapy sessions, we’d prefer to take our relationship advice from people who know what they’re talking about.

Like Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher. These lovebirds from North Carolina got married in 1924, back when a dozen eggs cost a quarter and Calvin Coolidge was president. In 2008, they received a Guinness Record for being the world’s longest-married living couple. Today, they’re still going strong, even at the ripe old ages of 104 (Herbert) and 102 (Zelmyra).

Zelmyra still remembers what Herbert was like when she first married him. “He was not mean; he was not a fighter,” she told the New Bern Sun Journal. “He was quiet and kind. He was not much to look at but he was sweet.”

The Fishers, who are African-American, were poor when they got married, but they worked hard to create a good life for their family, despite the difficulties caused by segregation and racial discrimination. They had five children, and raised enough money to put them all through college. At last count, they have ten grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Though they’ve spent many decades together, the pair take care to give each other space: they attend separate churches, and Zelmyra is always happy to turn over the TV to Herbert when the baseball comes on. They claim to never fight.

If you want to know their secret, you’re in luck: in honor of Valentine’s Day, the Fishers are planning to answer 14 relationship questions, via Twitter. Have something to ask them? Just tweet in your question to @longestmarried by February 13th, and you might be selected. We’re sure they’ll have better advice for you than Dr. Phil.Gimundo

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“Love at first sight is easy to understand; it’s when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle.” – Amy Bloom

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based on the local tv reports, one may have thought nyc was experiencing the worst storm ever yesterday. it was simply not the truth. here is a good example of an article by someone who apparently has the same concerns about the ‘news.’ these photos were taken this morning on 1st ave & 73rd street – the aftermath of the debilitating storm:

8:00 am day after blizzard

at the same time thousands of hours were spent by reporters making up stories, the people at the good news gazette were busy working on more relevant stories which are presumably true. another site worth reading is gimundo. i love their slogan, “good news served daily”.

in addition to the stories reported in the good news gazette & gimundo, somewhere in the world the economy improved, some people landed their dream jobs, some people had the baby they’ve been waiting for, people got married, engaged or fell in love for the first time. others moved into their first home, cured diseases, became inspired, performed random acts of kindness, fed the poor, nursed a person in need, gave big money to a worthy charity, got a new puppy, exceeded a goal, got accepted into college, won a scholarship, won the lottery, published a book, received a grant or made their first million. so many good things happened yesterday! so while many were watching the un-news, i read my mail.

this is what was in my mail today:

it also included some hersheys kisses which were no longer available at the time of photo shoot.